Where it works
Recording needs the Evobody iPhone app, which is in beta and open to every client. In a browser the buttons are there, but the screen explains that recording needs the installed app, and on an iPhone it points to the beta. It is not on Android yet. A client without the iPhone app logs the same session by hand in a few taps, and it lands in the same place.
After the run
Finishing opens a summary of the session: the route on the map, the distance, the time and the average pace per kilometre, the metres climbed when there were more than thirty, and a bar for every split with the quickest one marked.
Underneath sit the awards the run earned, picked from the client's own history:
- a first run, a fastest 5 km and a second fastest, and how much quicker than their best it was;
- the fastest time on a route they have run before, and how many laps of it they have done;
- a longest run, the most climbing, and the biggest week so far.
From there a client can add up to nine photos, share the run to their coach's private community with its map, distance, time, pace and climb, or discard it, which asks first whether to delete it. With no signal, the summary says the run is kept on the phone and goes up the moment there is signal again.
Routes and loops, found by themselves
Run the same ground twice and Evobody notices. Two runs count as the same route when they start close together, their distances are within 8% of each other and they follow nearly the same line, in either direction. The second time, the summary says the client has covered this ground before and offers to name the route. Left unnamed, it is called by its distance, such as 5.2 km loop.
A client can also draw a route before they set out. They tap points on a map, which are joined in straight lines, and save it. Following it puts the route on the live map and warns them, on screen and out loud, when they go off it.
Each route has its own page: Follow this route, the client's laps of it, and Others on this ground, which lists only clients of the same coach.
All of it collects on the Highlights page: the fastest time at each distance, the longest run, the most climbing, the biggest week, and the routes.
Everything else, logged by hand
Not every session happens outdoors, and not every client has the iPhone app. Anything else is logged by hand from the same + button, in a few taps:
- Cardio: a run (outdoors or on a treadmill), cycling (outdoors or on a bike), a swim, rowing (on a machine or on water), stairs, martial arts (boxing, Muay Thai, MMA, jiu-jitsu or wrestling) and other cardio. Each takes the minutes, the distance where the activity has one, and an average heart rate if the client knows it.
- Movement: a walk, a hike, yoga or stretching.
- Training outside the plan: a gym workout, HIIT or a class.
A cardio session logged by hand can be shared to the community too, with its time, distance, pace, heart rate and a photo.
| Activity | GPS route on a map (iPhone app) | Logged by hand |
|---|---|---|
| Run | Yes | Yes, outdoors or on a treadmill |
| Walk | Yes | Yes |
| Ride | Yes | Yes, outdoors or on a bike |
| Hike | No | Yes |
| Swim | No | Yes, with distance |
| Rowing | No | Yes, with distance |
| Stairs | No | Yes, in minutes |
| Martial arts | No | Yes, in minutes |
Heart rate zones
Evobody works out five zones from the client's age: a maximum heart rate of 220 minus their age, with zone 1 at 50 to 60% of it, rising to zone 5 at 90 to 100%. When a coach sets a cardio session in a zone, the client sees their own range for it during the session, in beats per minute, rather than a percentage they have to work out. After a session they can add their average heart rate and the zone it sat in.
Steps, kept apart from training
Steps have their own page, with a daily target that is the same number as the client's steps habit and two weeks of days as bars. They come from Apple Health in the iPhone app, from some of the trackers a client can connect, or are typed in, and a client can tap any day to correct it.
Walks and hikes never count toward the week's cardio. That is a coaching decision rather than a technical one. A client who walked ten thousand steps had a good day. Counting it as a cardio session flatters the number and tells their coach something untrue about the week.
What the coach sees
The coach sets how many cardio sessions a week each client is aiming for. In the client's week, every session shows with its kilometres and minutes beside the rest of their training, and their rank counts cardio against that weekly number. When a client shares a run to the community, the coach sees its map there with everyone else. The splits and personal bests stay in the client's own app, where they are the client's to enjoy.
Watches and other apps
- Apple Health, in the iPhone app: workouts arrive with their duration, distance, calories and heart rate, without a route.
- Other connected trackers: some send workouts, and those arrive with their minutes.
Each shows in the client's log with where it came from. Workouts brought in this way do not count toward Highlights or awards, which come only from runs recorded in Evobody. Garmin, Fitbit and Strava do not connect today. The full list is on what wearables does Evobody support.
Distances show in kilometres or miles, whichever the client picks in settings. Award labels and route names stay in kilometres.
Questions about GPS and cardio
Does Evobody have GPS run tracking?
Yes, in the Evobody iPhone app, which is in beta. A client records a run, a walk or a ride on a live map with the time, distance and pace as they move, and finishes with splits, personal bests and any route they have run before.
Does a client need a watch?
No. Recording runs from the phone, so a client without a watch still gets the route, the splits and the awards. A watch can still send its workouts in, through Apple Health or a tracker the client connects.
Does GPS tracking work on Android?
Not yet. Recording needs the iPhone app. On Android, and in a browser, a client logs the same run by hand with its minutes and distance.
Does it keep recording with the screen off?
Yes. In the iPhone app it keeps recording with the screen locked or the app in the background, saves every position on the phone, and goes straight back to the live run when the app is opened again.
Can a client follow a route?
Yes. They draw it on a map and save it, or name one they have already run twice. Following it puts it on the live map and warns them when they go off it.
How are heart rate zones worked out?
From the client's age: a maximum heart rate of 220 minus their age, split into five zones from 50 to 100% of it. When a coach sets a cardio session in a zone, the client sees their own range in beats per minute.
Do steps count as cardio?
No. Steps have their own page and their own daily target, and walks and hikes never count toward the week's cardio, so a long walk to the shops never flatters the number.
Can the coach see a client's run on a map?
When the client shares it to the community, yes, the map shows there. Otherwise the coach sees the session in the client's week with its kilometres and minutes.
Does it work without signal?
Yes. A finished run is kept on the phone and goes up the moment there is signal again, stored once even if the phone tries twice.